Site about Technical Direction

I have used this site as a resource several times and the past, and it has recently come to my attaention again. I agree with the concepts proposed and the way it is broken up into the catagories of artistic, craftsmanship, leadership, and management.

Take a look at it here:
http://www.theatre.vt.edu/DESTOP/ABSTRACT.html

fun for the day

A Rube Goldberg inspired ad:
http://producten.hema.nl/

Football meets automation

Well it seems as though even I can't resist passing on something that relates to the superbowl. I read an article about the field in Design News and thought I would pass it on. Its pretty incredible that the whole field moves - and that the game is played on a false deck!

Check out the article at:
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6527738.html?nid=2333&rid=1429297135#_self
or
http://tinyurl.com/28obp5

shipping materials

While shipping stuff isn't a mainstay of what we do - it does occassionally happen. While searching for the air or foam expandable packs I ran across the following site that was helpful in terms of finding what I need so I thought I would pass the link on.

http://www.work.com/foam-packaging-1948/

OSB Board

I have been looking into OSB board for use instead of playwood in areas where what the piece looks like isn't important. I thought the following link was kind cool.

http://www.osbguide.com/osbtour.html

The site also has a variety of info about osb board as well.

APA

For lots of information about plywood (and other lumber products) check out:
http://www.apawood.org/level_c.cfm?content=pub_ply_libmain
They have lots of reference information available for download (you do need to create a free account). It is handy material to have on hand - especially if you need to do any engineering or structural design.

Painters Pyramids

After repainting the house that I moved into a few months back, I can say from experience that these would have been helpful for some of the pieces. They are small plastic pyramids to set objects on that allow you to paint edges and the top at the same time. Found in Lee Valley, the catalog mentions that the “old timers” used nails or screws to provide the same benefit. For me the bit of info is as cool as the objects themselves!

Tools for angles

Hartville Tool has a couple products that I thought would be a good add to any toolbox.

First was the “bevel boss”. It’s a 3” x 12” steel rule that allows you to set angles with your bevel gauge to a .25 degree. The reverse side is a ruler. It’s selling for 34.

The other product that caught my eye was the “angle fix gauge”. You can measure your angles and then it will divide the angle and you can use it to help line up your saw. Seems like it would be handy for molding work. And, as it sells for 15.00, it won’t hit the pocketbook so hard.

Mounted roller lifts

The link below offers a variety of small scale roller mechanisms. The site targets photographers, but the rollers (and some of the other pieces) could be useful as well. The units they sell can go as long as 12' and can be stacked (up to 8 rollers)

http://www.dennymfg.com/store/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=103&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

Quick releases

Check out the following site for their quick releases:
http://www.sweeney-special-effects.com/special_effects_catalog.php?QR-LARGE

A person I am working with was speaking of them recently and highly recommended them. I like that they (depending on the version) have such a significant load rating.

Also the following site is interesting. They offer varying type of quick releases used for hot air balloons. I could definitely see some uses for them theatrically.
http://www.stumpfballoons.com/quick.htm